MIT has several distinct systems for reserving rooms. There's a whole bunch listed in the Event Planning Guide (most listed on
http://web.mit.edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/eventguide/other/independent.html; the big systems have their own pages linked from the sidebar or top bar on that page).
The two main groups of rooms (which are almost always what I've used, although Tech Squares has occasionally used some others) are:
- CAC spaces --- large event spaces (including La Sala). Those are reserved through CAC EMS (http://mv.ezproxy.com.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/virtualems/login.aspx) (as are DAPER (athletic) spaces). Generally speaking, CAC EMS will tell you actual availability and if you reserve the room online you have it. You need to know the username and password to use that system, but in practice you do *not* need to be on the reservation signatories list in the ASA DB (I think).
- Schedules spaces --- most classrooms. Those are reserved through http://web.mit.edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/registrar/classrooms/reserve/index.html. You can't see what rooms are available on that site, There's no username or password for that system; instead, Schedules will actually check the ASA DB for authorization (at least, in theory, and I've seen a couple emails that suggest that they do in practice too).
Other rooms:
- E15 lower atrium –- this is a reasonably large space that can fit 6 or more squares. https://www-media-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/posts/event-rentals-at-the-media-lab-overview/ for more details or to reserve. The normal price is $100/hour, with 2 hour required setup and breakdown, and a required custodial charge. However, in summer 2017, they gave us a rate of $25/hour with 1 hour required setup and breakdown, and waived the required custodial charge (and therefore we should make sure to do a thorough job cleaning up), for a total of $137.50 a night. Chairs and tables are available from the adjacent Bartos theater at no extra charge, but we need to be careful, as the tables are heavy, and one week a table leg caught on a corner and broke. When CAC rooms are not available, this is probably the best option. We do not currently have a username/password for the reservation site, and have only coordinated via e-mail, but we haven't tried asking for one. The lower atrium is often warm, so we should file a Facilities request for additional cooling on Atlas in advance of the dance. It seems that a single request for multiple weeks is sufficient.